Rough Times Ahead

Well, school started for my kids about 5 weeks ago and so it seems we are only 4 weeks away from break time again. This year has been hectic, I have gone to meetings and doctors and extra-curricular activities pretty much non stop for the last 5 weeks. I get about half a day on Saturday to sleep in and then I have to clean from the previous week I neglected in all of the running around. I'm feeling tired and a bit ill. But that's not actually what I sat down intending to write about. From here I will shift gears.

I am used to the misbehavior of my boys. With the mental disabilities and social difficulties, one grows accustomed to certain "bad" behaviors. My daughter on the other hand, has always been the shining ray of normalcy in an otherwise turbulent existence. Until recently...

She will be 10 in a month, and I don't know if it is typical for a girl her age to develop an attitude and behavior issues or not, but these new "quirks" are taking a tole on my clarity of thought. I took her last week to get new shoes for school. Something practical that she can use to look cute and still wear for PE. Every time I suggested a pair of shoes, she would huff and roll her eyes. One of the times, I picked a pair of shoes I would have worn if I was her age and she proceeded to put her hand on her hip, flip her hair, roll her eyes, bob her neck and say, "I actually CARE how I look, mom." Yesterday I got an e-mail from her teacher regarding atypical behavior at school:

Hi!

 

Krysta is having a VERY rough morning. She is off task, spinning in her seat and kicking the clipboards that are beside her desk.  She was verbally warned twice. When we started independent work time, she was digging and emptying and cleaning out her desk. I found her with a bunch of papers at her backpack and when I asked her what she was doing she stated she was "looking for her spare pencil."

 

Can you speak with her please? I'm not sure what's going on today.

 

Thank you.

Of course when she got home, I sat down to talk with her about this and she started making up things that were nothing to do with the topic. Then I read her the email and she looked at me and acted confused like she didn't understand what the teacher was talking about. The only part she acknowledged was that she needed another pencil because hers broke. She has increasingly been disregarding rules and directions.  I don't know what to do. In addition to the attitude, she has been lying and manipulating the situations around her and then cocks her head and bats her eyelashes at the problem. Sigh.

Update: I have 1 follower

So I just realized today that people can "follow" my blog page. I guess like Twitter has followers? However on Twitter I have at least 3 constant followers. I say or do nothing terribly interesting to warrant them though. I think I have more interesting things to say here than there. The 140 character limit does just that, limits me. You cannot limit creativity and free speech. I feel like I am intelligent, but I still need to learn more. I am not a professional writer, I am probably not even a "good" writer. I just write what I am thinking, feeling or the facts. I have never been consistent in my writing. I don't write on a schedule. I write if and when I wish to. And since I have no followers, there is no pressure. No pressure to write. No pressure to be good when I do. But alas, it saddens me today, to realize I have no followers. I only get post hits and comments if I post a comment at www.thebloggess.com or if I write something and share the link to the page on a controversial post online somewhere. I actually like watching the hit counter go up. Especially since I know that none of you know me. That none of you are obligated to be here or like what I say. None of my family nor friends even have a link to this page. I won't share on facebook, I won't give them my "pen name." I write for me, but I still like to see validation. On post with 0 hits, I feel like I've failed. Today this is just a private journal. No one but me keeping score.

Update: thanks for reading and following :)

My Non-Human Kids

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I love animals. The loneliest time in my life was from 2007-2011 when I actually went without ANY pets of any kind because of the restrictions on apartment rentals. I love animals of all kinds: dogs, cats, reptiles, rodents, etc... Currently though, I only have 3 cats and a turtle. I thought I could share some of the joy, so today I'm posting pictures of my non-human children.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoyed them like I do.

The Bloggess Is Awesome!

So yesterday, my 9 year old daughter and I went to The Bloggess book signing event at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ. It was a wonderful (and nerve wracking) experience for both my daughter and myself.

On the way there we encountered the onset of a giant rolling dust storm, known here in AZ (at least) as a haboob.

Since we were extremely early, my daughter and I sat in the car in the parking lot for a few minutes before deciding to risk the fury of the dust and just go inside.

I had already bought my book during the pre-order prior to it's release so we knew we wouldn't get a seat, but wanted to be sure we were where we could see, so we stood in line basically from 5:30pm until the event started at 7:00pm. Where I was standing, I was actually lucky enough to see Jenny come in through the back door and head to what I imagine is the back room of the bookstore.
There were so many people, my anxiety almost got the best of me. I was sweating so profusely that the ends of my hair were soaked as if I had stuck them in a cup of water. It was disgusting.
When she came out, she apologized for bringing the monsoon with her and explained that she just learned the word "haboob" and she thought we were just spelling boob incorrectly.

Then she did a reading from her book. One of the most awesomely hysterical chapters of all time, in my opinion, "The Psychopath on the Other Side of the Bathroom Door".

After this, Jenny did Q&A and my daughter, who was super excited to be there, raised her hand. Jenny was sweet when she called on her, Jenny said "Yes adorable little kid in the back?" At which point my lovely daughter asked, "Why are you so awesome?" After all the awes from the crowd subsided, Jenny replied, "You're so sweet." My daughter was beside her self with happiness.
The line for book signing was basically in groups labeled A-H in the order they had pre-purchased the book, each containing about 25 people, and then the rest of us. We sat around patiently waiting for them to call each group to the line.

The lineup started at about 8:00pm and my daughter and I finally got to Jenny about 9:40pm.
She is the best! Super friendly and patient. She took the time for each person to do pictures and short chats.

When we got home, I set the book on my bed, where my cat Chewy decided he liked Jenny's book too and he laid down on it and fell asleep.